AASU men falter down stretch against UNF

Two things are usually needed to win close basketball games - execution and toughness.

Armstrong Atlantic State men's coach Jeff Burkhamer said his team lacked both those ingredients in Wednesday night's 72-68 loss to the University North Florida at the AASU Sports Center.

"When you don't execute against teams that do execute, you usually lose,'' a frustrated Burkhamer said after the Pirates fell to 5-6 in the Peach Belt Conference and 13-9 overall.

"We didn't execute very well. We played with no toughness. We played with no emotion. When you do those things, you have no chance to win.''

AASU began a 13-0 run with 12 minutes left in the second half to rally from a 52-41 deficit and take a 54-52 lead with 8:25 left. But the Pirates turned the ball over on three straight possessions in the final 4:30 after the score was tied at 58.

UNF (11-14, 6-5 PBC) took advantage of the miscues to score six straight points on two layups and a dunk to go ahead 64-58 with 3:37 left.

"We changed our defense and went to something we hadn't run all year,'' Burkhamer said of the rally. "It bothered them. Unfortunately, we didn't rebound out of it. If we had, it would have been real effective. But we stood around and they got second and third shots. Consequently, we lose.''

Despite the rebounding lapses, AASU still had a chance to pull the game out at the end. With UNF ahead 70-64, Lorenzo Lawrence was fouled making a 3-point shot from the top of the key with 41 seconds left. The senior guard then made the ensuing free throw for a four-point play to pull the Pirates within 70-68.

But UNF's Chris Timberlake hit a floating jumper in the lane with 11 seconds left as the shot clock was running down and the Ospreys held on for the victory.

Lawrence led AASU with a game-high 30 points. Jamal Galloway added 12 off the bench and Alex Carter 10. But the Pirates struggled inside with sophomore center Bryan Taylor scoring only six points after scoring 23 in Saturday's 80-77 victory over USC Aiken.

"We're struggling to score everywhere,'' Burkhamer said. "You've got to have toughness to screen people. You've got to have toughness to use screens.

"Right now we're not very good inside. We're not very good outside. We're not very good offensively. We're not very good defensively. Tonight we didn't rebound either. We're not very good right now.''